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I received a Cricket for Christmas last year and I've used it all of three times, the first time was just to see how it worked! For me, a huge sticker collector, I found that having a nice assortment of different lettering sticker fonts works just as well, and isn't as costly. Your typical dollar store should carry these.(I bought a really nice lettering collection on one of those shop at home channels a few years back.) The Cricket cartridges are expensive, and as a single mom they are not a priority purchase. I am not at all proficient with it and have only two cartridges, but I have the ink pen set, which is a seperate purchase. Maybe I'll start using it after checking out your link to "cricketlover."

I have owned my Cricut for a few months now and have mixed emotions about it. I only have 5 cartridges and at $50-$90 a pop on top of the hefty $400 price tag for the machine itself, I decided to look into other sources. There is an alternate program you can purchase which hooks up to the Cricut allowing you to cut any true type font/image you can imagine. It costs about $75, which compared to a cartridge is a steal! My other vice is the constant replacement of the mats, it doesn't seem like a very "green" product if you ask me. With the added expence (and waste) of the mats, again I have turned to other alternatives. If you have an old mat that has lost it's stickieness, purchase a 2 way glue pen (the large sponge tip type) allowing it to dry, it leaves a residue sticky enough to hold your paper but not too sticky that it doesn't come off :) Another althernative I have found for those of you who use vinyl for projects and you intend to throw the vinyl out afterwards, instead of purchasing the small rolls made by PC simply use rolls of sticky vinyl kitchen shelf liner(it may not look the prettiest but it does the job). I've used it for dozens of projects and lasts forever at a fraction of the cost! Now that I have figured out which settings to use for which type of paper (after wasting a lot I might add) and some cost saving alternatives, for the most part my love/hate relationship with Cricut is more love than hate :)

I will take your advice about the mat, for sure. My boyfriend, who purchased it for me last year asks me all the time if I use it. LOL We did use it last year for my daughter's science project, looks like I'll be using it again for the same reason! LOL

I don't have a Cricut, but a Klic N Kut which is another die cutting machine. If anyone is interested in learning more about die cut machines I have a whole web site with loads of tutorials, and info for beginners to help them decide if a die cutting machine is right for them. I don't sell the machines, but I make files that people can use on them (including loads of freebies). I'm kind of a die-cut-aholic...LOL!! There is a new software out there now for Cricut owners that alleviates the need to buy the expensive cartridges called Make The Cut. You can google it or check out info on my site if you like. Happy Cutting! Darcy :o) DesigningWithDiecuts.com

You can get Design Studio used on amazon at a good price and see if you like it before you invest into a new one. My friend has a used one and it's worked out fine so far, it really depends on how much will you use it. There are way too many free svg/s all over not to take advantage of it. We love [url=https://www.SVGdesigns.com]SVGdesigns.com[/url]SVGdesigns.com they have some very good quality free svg/s and also https://www.etsy.com , but [url=https://www.etsy.com]ETSY[/url]Etsy is not free though ;-) Good luck with your projects.